Star Trek: The Original Series (theme song)

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Star Trek was a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s and aired between September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969, with a total of 79 episodes produced. Although cancelled after its short run, the program was placed in syndication and spawned a strong fan following. The show's theme tune was an instrumental piece written by Alexander Courage and immediately recognized by many people who had never even seen the program. It is also one of the best known pieces played on the theremin. Clips from the original theme have shown up on spin-off series and motion pictures, with Star Trek: The Next Generation's opening theme starting with the song's fanfare, followed by the Jerry Goldsmith-composed theme from the first Star Trek motion picture in 1979.

Lyrics were written by Gene Roddenberry without Courage's knowledge and without intending for them ever to be sung. Prior to his writing the song, Roddenberry had Courage agree to allow lyrics to be composed. Despite the non-performance, Roddenberry would nevertheless get a 50% share of the music's performance royalties. Although there was never any litigation, Courage later commented that he believed Roddenberry's conduct was unethical. Roddenberry was quoted as responding, "Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not going to get it out of the profits of Star Trek."

In the Star Trek opening, soprano Loulie Jean Norman provided the voice instrumental music, but no lyrics. In the 1970s, Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Uhura on the original series, recorded a disco version of the song with lyrics different from Roddenberry's.